BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A large UPS cargo plane crashed early Wednesday morning near the airport in Birmingham, Alabama, killing the pilot and co-pilot, in the latest in a series of aviation accidents in the United States this year.

"I can confirm they were killed in the crash," Birmingham Mayor William Bell said of the pilot and co-pilot, who were not identified immediately. He added that there were no other casualties reported.

A fire in a sparsely populated area that broke out after the predawn crash was "under control" he said.

"It was quite a large fire and there were two to three explosions after the plane caught fire, after the crash itself," Bell said.

United Parcel Service Inc flight 1354, en route from Louisville, Kentucky, to Birmingham, crashed on approach about 5 a.m. Central Time, according to the FAA. The plane was identified as an Airbus A300.

UPS, the world's largest package-delivery company, said it was "still determining the details of the incident."

The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed via its official Twitter feed that it was sending a team to the crash site.

An Airbus spokesman in Toulouse, France, said he had no information on the incident.

It was the latest in a series of air accidents in the United States in recent months.

In July, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crashed while landing in San Francisco, killing three people and injuring more than 180.

Also last month, the front landing gear of a Southwest Airlines Co Boeing 737 jet collapsed on touchdown at New York City's LaGuardia Airport, injuring eight.